“Light a candle, sing a song Say that the shadows shall not cross Make an oblation out of all you’ve lost In the longest night Gather friends and cast your hopes Into the fire as it snows And stare at God through the dark windows Of the longest night Of the year
A night that seems like a lifetime If you’re waiting for the sun So why not sing to the night-time And the burning stars up above?
Come with drums, bells and horns Or come in silence, come forlorn Come like a miner to the door Of the longest night For deep in the stillness, deep in the cold Deep in the darkness, a miner knows That there is a diamond in the soul Of the longest night Of the year
Maybe peace hides in a storm Maybe winter’s heart is warm And maybe light itself is born In the longest night In the longest night Of the year.”
“In silence the conscious thinking mind comes to a stop, and the invisible presence and power are given the opportunity to function. If we really believe that the kingdom of God is within, we should be willing to leave the world until such time as we can reach, touch, and respond to the Father within.
Silence is the secret power of the power of the Hawaiians. Through silence they communicated with nature. The language of silence salutes the divinity in all things. Everything that has life has something of value to share with us, providing we are ready to experience it.”
“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”
From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, published on this day in 1843
“I cannot say where it lives, only that it comes to the heart that is open, to the heart that asks, to the heart that does not turn away. It can take practice, days of tugging at what keeps us bound, seasons of pushing against what keeps our dreaming small. When it arrives, it might surprise you by how quiet it is, how it moves with such grace for possessing such power. But you will know it by the strength that rises from within you to meet it, by the release of the knot in the center of your chest that suddenly lets go. You will recognize it by how still your fear becomes as it loosens its grip, perhaps never quite leaving you, but calmly turning into joy as you enter the life that is finally your own.”
“The saints were capable of seeing through the masks that cover the faces and they saw that the masks are unreal. In the innumerable faces of men they saw only one face: the face of love.”
“What makes a place sacred? Is it some hallowed action? Is it the siting of a shrine or temple? Is it the occupation by people who have honoured the spirit of that place? Although there is no part of the earth that is not intrinsically sacred in its own right, our recognition of a place’s sacredness tends to rest upon what other human beings have done at that spot, what they have erected by way of memorial, what holy actions and rites they have conducted to hallow it.
Certain spots draw us to them, there is no doubt. Even if they harbour no ancient monument, if there is no story associated with their borders, we feel somehow at peace or exalted when there. It must be through just that intangible process that our ancestors discovered their own sacred places – places of natural beauty whose potency drew them again and again to spiritual exploration. Some places act as natural thresholds, junctions between this world and the other where we feel in communion with the unseen world and its inhabitants.
Some sacred places can be lost through neglect and forgetfulness; others are lost by a gross act of desacralization. But a place can be rediscovered and resacralized if we attend to the spirit of the place and learn what it is that makes that place sacred. The prospect of the resacralization of the earth is just a lofty idea for many people, but it is one that all of us can foster, in cooperation with the spirits of the earth itself.
Call to mind a place – it need not be recognized by others as a sacred place – where you have felt empowered and uplifted. Dwell upon the qualities and gifts that you associate with that site and how they make connection with your own spiritual path. Take the first opportunity you can to verify your meditation by visiting this place in person. Sense again the spirit of the place.”
“Notice the inner places where you’re holding your breath, walking on eggshells around the living room of your self. Notice the contraction of your muscles, the hump of your shoulders, the pitch of your pelvis, the way you sip air instead of taking it in freely and fully as a gift of divine grace. Notice the quality of your being when you scrunch down to be less than the radiant, miraculous, multidimensional human that you are. How do you feel? Now, ask yourself this question: Who profits from my diminution? Who – in my life, in my circle of family and friends, in my work, my ancestry, in the historical, political, cultural, social, economic life of my world – profits, when I act from this diminished self? When I become less than all that I am? Ask yourself a further question: In what ways do I benefit, from this stance? Are the costs of truncating myself in these ways worth the benefits? Be truthful, with your responses. Take your time. There’s no shame or blame involved here, just playful curiosity and willingness to know your truth. Now, choose. Choose to stand up tall. Choose to open your chest, widen your shoulders, let the weight of your torso rest in the bowl of your pelvis. Choose to entrust the upright wand of your body to the miraculous stability of the soles of your feet. Declare your sovereignty. Banish the profiteers from your kingdom. Bring those of your inner selves who have grown accustomed to a hunched-over life, back into your heart, back into the safety of your love and belonging, back into a clear-eyed orientation to your world. Choose your power. Choose the power of your full presence. Choose to be the light of your world. Be radiant. Then, radiate.”
King Edward Street Chapel 